1. Field of the invention
The present invention relates to improvements in a tamper-proof garment hanger of the type described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,324,352 issued on Apr. 13, 1982 to Charles Goldfarb.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,324,352, there is disclosed a hanger having a conventional yoke-shaped hanger part having two garment supporting inclined side arms stemming from a central open-top box-like casing for supporting a piece of garment. A vertically movable gripping device is provided, having an upper part curved as a hook to fit over a round support bar or the like. When the gripping device is lowered toward the hanger, the free end of the hook comes to engage the tip of an abutment leg on the casing to thereby close and lock the hook over the round support bar. The gripping device further has a lower branch formed as a rack which slides into the casing. A pair of gripping arms project from the mid-portion of the gripping device and over the inclined side arms of the hanger part. The gripping arms have gripping cups at their ends that are applied over the garment on the hanger arms when the cups are moved against the hanger arms and to the closed position of the hook. A pawl is pivotally mounted in the hanger part central casing and is biased against the rack by a spring to hold the hook in closed position.
The above patent discloses that the locking means, formed by the rack and pawl mechanism, may be actuated with a key based only by an authorized person. A mention is made of the provision of a key-operated lock cooperating with the rack and pawl mechanism, to free the gripping device, but no such lock is disclosed.